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Good practice Imported

DoctorSV — El Salvador's Nationwide AI-Assisted Telemedicine Platform

El Salvador · San Salvador · See the El Salvador profile · See the San Salvador profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 97% 20/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

El Salvador's health ministry launched a free national AI-assisted telemedicine app; government figures claim 1.5M+ users in six months, but the ~$500M Google Cloud deal is confidential and no independent clinical-outcome data exists.

1.5 million+
Registered users (within six months of launch (by mid-2026))
3 million+
Scheduled appointments (within six months of launch)
~20,000
Daily calls (April 2026)
98%
Claimed satisfaction rate (as of mid-2026)
up to 30,000/day (~10.95 million/year)
System consultation capacity (as of February 2026)
78
Redemption network — laboratories (as of February 2026)
49
Redemption network — imaging facilities (as of February 2026)
322
Redemption network — pharmacies (as of February 2026)
~US$500 million (7-year term)
Google Cloud strategic alliance value (reported 2026)
7,700+
Public healthcare workers laid off (2025)

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Ministerio de Salud (MINSAL) de El Salvador, en alianza con Google LLC y CAF – Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina y el Caribe
Period
November 2025 – present
Keywords
telemedicine, digital health, public health, e-government, AI triage

Context

DoctorSV is a free national telemedicine app launched by El Salvador's Ministry of Health (MINSAL) on 13 November 2025, built on a strategic alliance with Google LLC. Patients register, complete a symptom questionnaire, and are scheduled for a video consultation (via Google Meet) with a primary-care physician.

Objectives

A Google Gemini-based AI assistant analyses the questionnaire to flag chronic-disease risk (diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease) and pre-generates diagnostic classifications and lab/imaging orders for the physician; prescriptions and orders are redeemable by QR code at partner private facilities.

Activities

Per a peer-reviewed description in The Lancet Regional Health - Americas (February 2026), the redemption network includes 78 laboratories, 49 imaging facilities and 322 pharmacies, with a stated system capacity of up to 30,000 consultations per day (roughly 10.95 million per year).

Results

Salvadoran and regional press report government-supplied usage figures of over 1.5 million registered users and more than 3 million scheduled appointments within six months of launch, about 20,000 daily calls by April 2026, and a claimed 98% satisfaction rate — figures that originate from government announcements and are repeated, not independently audited, by the outlets that carry them.

Conclusions

An independent German outlet, heise online, reports a seven-year strategic alliance with Google Cloud worth roughly USD 500 million, with contract terms kept confidential despite the public spending. Global Voices' Advox project quotes cybersecurity experts warning of insufficient public information to guarantee medical-record protection, citing the 2021 Chivo Wallet data-misuse scandal and 2024 hacking incidents. El Salvador's SIMETRISSS medical union and the president of the Medical College have publicly warned that reduced face-to-face care could delay detection of complications, and that the programme's financing depends on loans rather than a sustainable public budget line; over 7,700 public healthcare workers were laid off in 2025. No independently audited clinical-outcome or diagnostic-accuracy data has been published.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Very high (> €5M) — ~US$500 million, seven-year Google Cloud strategic alliance with contract terms kept confidential; financing reported to depend on loans.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Launched 13 November 2025; usage and infrastructure figures reported through mid-2026.
Staffing & skills
MINSAL clinical and administrative staff, Google LLC (technology partner), CAF – Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina y el Caribe (alliance partner)

Conditions for success

  • strategic technology alliance with a major cloud/AI vendor (Google)
  • a redemption network of partner private labs, imaging centres and pharmacies

Common failure modes

  • confidential contract terms for a ~US$500M public deal, criticised for lack of transparency
  • cybersecurity experts warn of insufficient public information to guarantee medical-record protection, citing the 2021 Chivo Wallet scandal and 2024 hacking incidents
  • medical union and Medical College leadership warn reduced face-to-face care could delay detection of complications
  • financing reported to depend on loans rather than a sustainable public budget line, alongside 7,700+ healthcare-worker layoffs in 2025, raising substitution-versus-supplementation concerns

Where it fits

Governance type
national health ministry with a private-sector technology alliance
Scale
national, 1.5 million+ users
Income level
lower-middle-income (El Salvador)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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